Housing Committee talks demolition list
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Housing demolitions continue to move forward in the city, and city Development Director, Crystal Surdyk, gave an update to the housing committee on Monday about where some specific demolitions in the city stand.
The Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency is moving forward with some property demolitions on the most recent list, she said, and there was one emergency demolition the city needed to deal with. That emergency demolition will now shift funding from something else that is on the current list. Three other properties are currently in the process of asbestos abatement, and another controlled demolition will soon be put out to bid. Properties at 810 and 812 North Main Street are expected to be cleaned up by the end of the week.
A question was raised about the status of 114 Steele Street, which was demolished after a fire a few years ago.
"That is definitely in our queue, but it's an interesting one because it's owned by an LLC," Surdyk said. "We're trying to hold that property owner accountable through various legal means. At this point I think we are likely to just clean it up; there's another one on Forest that we're doing as well."
What that means though, Surdyk said, is funding for that will be taken away from something else on the current demolitions list. The Department of Development is out of CDBG funding for demolitions for the year, and the next round is not expected until November or December. Surdyk noted that that funding is always limited, usually around $100,000. Surdyk added that she has to work with city comptroller, Erika Thomas, and they have to look at what funds the city has, also noting that clean up of the property on Forest Avenue will be expensive.
"So, yes, it is certainly top of mind," Surdyk said. "Because it's on the ground, it's not necessarily posing an immediate threat, but it will have to move something off of this list. We always try to hold property owners accountable first. Not that we won't still try to collect from that property owner once we pay for the cleanup; we've already paid for the emergency demolition part and now we have to pay for the cleanup."
Another specific property, 301 Palmer Street, was also asked about by council members. This property is another tricky one, Surdyk said, as it was originally slated to be demolished using state funding, but the city has been going through many discussions about it with the state, specifically dealing with the historical aspect of the roof.
The roof of the house currently has a tree sticking out of it, but Surdyk said the cost for the roof is somewhere around $100,000 because of its historic nature, how complicated the roof is, its uniqueness and the material the roof is made out of.
"Becuase of the historic nature, we would have to use material that would fit that era," Surdyk said.
Because of all of that, the city is not able to knock the house down with state funding, so some items have been switched around and the property will be demolished using ARPA funding in order to get around that complication. Surdyk also noted that the house is far beyond being able to be repaired.
There is no current timeline for the property, but Surdyk said the hope is that it will be at the top of the queue with the next update, as ARPA funding is also getting close to when it needs to be spent.